CHAPTER 102: HOLLOW EYED CHILD

"We have an SSS-rank student." The words left Cecilia’s lips before she even took a breath.

Kael’s expression flickered, briefly, but then hardened. "Slow down, child."

Cecilia forced her breath steady, but the urgency remained in her voice. "It’s Noah Webb. He just told me now that his true potential isn’t FFF. His racial effect as a Dark Dragon masked his true rank at awakening. His real potential... is SSS."

Kael leaned back in his chair, the carved wood creaking. He regarded her with the same look he gave every claim that sounded too wild to entertain. "And you believe him?"

"Yes." Her answer was instant.

"Cecilia." Kael’s tone dropped, heavy with weary authority. "That boy has been in the custody of the Investigation Authority for months. Tortured. Broken. Do you not think this is merely delusion? Fantasies stitched together by a fractured mind desperate for importance?"

Her jaw tightened. "The ritual that summoned him—"

Kael sighed. "Not this again."

"No, listen," Cecilia pressed, stepping closer. "The ritual was designed to summon only those with extraordinary potential. Every single student brought through had at least B-rank potential... except Noah."

"Isn’t it strange that he was the only one with a potential below B-rank? And that the potential he had was FFF-rank? There’s also his race. We know of Dragons, but when have we ever heard of Dark Dragons? Who knows what they can do?"

Kael steepled his fingers, his pale eyes narrowing. "It means nothing. Oddities happen. Perhaps he was the anomaly. The weakest link among heroes."

Her golden eyes flared. "And what if he wasn’t? What if he’s exactly what the kingdom has prayed for? Isn’t it at least worth checking?"

"Or..." Cecilia’s eyes narrowed.

"Or?" Kael raised a brow.

"Are you holding a grudge because you think he’s responsible for the death of Juniper Rowe?"

Kael’s eyes hardened. "Cecilia."

Cecilia exhaled, looking away. After a moment, she looked back at him. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that."

Kale exhaled, shaking his head. "No. It’s not your fault. But no, I do not believe he is involved in what happened to..."

There was a moment of silence, before the old man turned his gaze back to Cecilia. Then, slowly, he asked, "Why, Cecilia, are you so fixated on this boy? Why not speak with the same fervor for your colleague, Oliver, who nearly died to bring him home?"

"I did." Her answer was immediate. She stepped even closer to his desk, her voice ringing with conviction. "The moment I heard he returned, I went straight to the infirmary and healed him myself."

After she’d teleported to her room, she’d rushed out in her normal clothes, in order to heal them herself. She wouldn’t just leave Oliver like that.

"I have never ignored Oliver, or any of my peers. But Noah..." She drew a sharp breath. "I saw the damage in his soul. And yet he still stands. If there is even a chance he’s telling the truth, then we cannot ignore it."

Kael tapped the desk with one bony finger. "And if he’s wrong? If you are wrong?"

"Then I will not speak his name to you again." Her voice softened, but it held firm. "But let us at least put in the effort to find out."

The silence stretched again. Finally, Kael exhaled, sounding old and weary. He pushed back his chair and stood, tall and steady despite his age.

"You’ve always been reckless, Cecilia," he muttered, reaching for his staff. "But perhaps this once, your recklessness will serve us."

Her heart leapt. "Then you agree?"

He nodded, brushing past her towards the door. "Fetch an Awakening Stone."

[][][][][]

Noah sat upright on the infirmary bed as the door creaked open.

His head turned slowly, eyes locking first on the figure of the old man with long white hair, his staff clutched firmly in his hand.

Behind him trailed Cecilia, her expression taut with anticipation, a gold-gilded box clutched carefully in her arms.

For a moment, silence stretched, broken only by the sound of Noah’s steady breathing.

This was the first time he’d seen the Principal since the Orientation months ago. As the memory surfaced, it clashed with the months of torment since then. He’d been a different person then. Now, all that remained was the hollow shell filled with hatred and shadows.

Principal Aldred Kael’s eyes met his, a smile on the old man’s face.

"Noah Webb," he said, his voice carrying the tired authority of someone who’d seen too much of the world. "We finally meet in person. I am Principal Kael. I’ve heard much about you from Professor Cecilia."

He stepped forward slowly, leaning a little on his staff. "We are here to confirm what you claim. That your potential is not what was once recorded."

Noah’s lips curved into a faint, humorless smile. "I don’t claim. I know. My potential is SSS." His voice was flat, without pride or hope, simply stating a truth.

Kael’s brow rose, his lined face betraying nothing else. "Whether we believe you or not is not the matter. Others, the nobles, the kingdom, the Crown, will demand proof. They will not take words. That is why we have brought an Awakening Stone."

At that, Cecilia stepped forward, placing the box carefully on a nearby chair. Her hands moved quickly, almost reverently, as she undid the clasps and lifted the lid.

Noah’s eyes narrowed. Sitting within was a crystal the size of a human head, shaped like a teardrop, its smooth surface gleaming as faint pulses of light shimmered from within.

He remembered it clearly. The Awakening Stone. The same type of stone he had once touched when his entire life had been rewritten.

Kael gestured at the crystal with a slight smile that did not reach his eyes. "Do not fear. Since you are already awakened, the stone will do nothing more than display your status for us to see."

"You may rest easy. If your words are true, then your racial effect allows you to decide what to show. No one can force you to reveal more than you wish. It is your right, as a mage."

The words rolled over Noah, but he didn’t trust easily anymore. He eyed the stone warily, the way a starving wolf eyes a piece of meat offered by a stranger. His shadows whispered at him, warning, mocking, urging.

But he reached forward anyway.

His fingers brushed the surface, cold as glass but alive with thrumming energy. He pressed his palm flat against it.

At once, golden letters bloomed into existence above the crystal, filling the air with their glow. Noah’s racial effect flared within him, suppressing, hiding, twisting the truth to only what he wanted seen.

The words shimmered into place.

[Status:]

[Noah Webb]

[Race: Dark Dragon]

[Rank: FFF]

[Potential: SSS]

[Affinities: Darkness, Fire, Void, Decay, Hunger]

The room froze.

Cecilia gasped so loudly it was nearly a sob, her golden eyes wide as tears threatened to spill. "SSS..." she whispered, her voice trembling. "It’s true. It’s really true..."

Kael stumbled a step back, his staff scraping against the stone floor as he caught himself. His face, usually composed, cracked with genuine shock. His old eyes widened as if seeing something long thought impossible.

For a long moment, silence reigned.

Then Kael exhaled slowly, voice rough. "Unbelievable..." He studied Noah again, this time not with irritation or doubt, but with a spark of something... different.

A hint of fear, a measure of respect, and of course, the reverence of destiny. "An SSS-rank. After all these years..."

Cecilia pressed a hand over her mouth, her shoulders trembling with the effort to keep composed. She’d believed him, yes, but seeing it with her own eyes was different. It was real now. Undeniable.

Noah, however, merely leaned back, pulling his hand away from the crystal. His expression was blank, detached. Inside, his shadows raged and laughed, celebrating the revelation. But on his face, there was nothing. Not pride. Not relief. Only emptiness.

"Now you believe me." He said softly.

Kael tightened his grip on his staff. His mind whirled. This boy, this broken, hollow-eyed child, was the greatest potential weapon Camelot had ever seen.

And perhaps its greatest threat.